integrated intersection traffic control system

Abstract

This invention relates to an integrated intersection traffic control system. The system comprises a statistic module for creating traffic data of each lane and each direction, an intelligent light control module for creating queuing data of the corresponding lane and direction, a vehicle speed detection module for creating speed data, a snapshot control module for crating snapshot control signals, a light control module for receiving lighting mode control commands from a CPU and switching on/off corresponding light power supply circuits, and a CPU for receiving data from other modules and devices and controlling them. The present invention integrates functions including traffic condition monitoring, traffic light control and punishable vehicle snapshoot. Such an integrated system is more economical and easier to construct and operate.

1 . An integrated intersection traffic control system, comprising:
 a CPU;   a flow statistic module, for receiving information regarding vehicles passing through an underground inductance coil of each lane, processing the information into traffic data of each lane and each direction, and sending the traffic data to the CPU;   an intelligent light control module, for receiving from a panoramic camera pictures of vehicles on each lane and on each direction, processing the pictures into queuing data of the corresponding lane and direction, and sending the queuing data to the CPU;   a vehicle speed detection module, for receiving information regarding vehicles passing through the underground inductance coil of each lane, processing the information into speed data, and sending the speed data to the CPU;   a snapshot control module, for receiving snapshot commands from the CPU, creating snapshot control signals, and sending the snapshot control signals to snapshot cameras; and   a light control module, for receiving lighting mode control commands from the CPU, creating light control signals in accordance with pre-stored lighting modes, and sending the light control signals to a light control circuit to switch on/off the corresponding power supply circuits, wherein the light control module receives light switching commands from the CPU whose execution will be given priority, creates and sends light control signals to the light control circuit to switch on/off the corresponding power supply circuits, and finally resumes the lighting mode after the light switching commands are executed;   wherein the CPU receives and stores the traffic data of each lane and each direction, creates and stores analytic traffic data, and outputs the analytic traffic data in accordance with external commands, the CPU further receiving the queuing data of each lane and each direction as well as mode parameters input by a lighting mode selector, creating lighting mode control commands according to the mode parameters, and sending the lighting mode control commands to the light control module, the CPU further receiving light switching information input by a manual light switching device, creating light switching commands, and sending the light switching commands to the light control module, the CPU further receiving visibility data from a visibility sensor, retrieving a speed limit corresponding to the visibility data in a database, and storing the speed limit in a speed limit storage, the CPU further receiving the speed data from the vehicle speed detection module, comparing the speed data with the speed limit in the speed limit storage, and sending a snapshot command, if the speed data is greater than the speed limit, to the snapshot control module, the CPU further receiving snapshot images from the snapshot cameras through a video capture card, recognizing the vehicle identification number, and storing the images and corresponding number in a blacklist database.   
   
   
       2 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 1 , wherein the snapshot cameras include longitudinal and lateral cameras respectively for taking longitudinal and lateral snapshots, wherein the operation of the cameras is controlled by the vehicle speed detection module, the visibility sensor and the CPU, wherein the longitudinal and lateral cameras take snapshots in response to the commands from the CPU and send the punishable vehicle images to the CPU, wherein the vehicle speed detection module obtains the speed information and the CPU receives and processes the speed information into speed data, compares the speed data with the speed limit, makes a decision, and instantly commands the snapshot cameras to take snapshots as well as recognizes the vehicle identification number by analyzing the picture if the actual speed is greater than the speed limit. 
   
   
       3 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 2 , wherein the visibility sensor captures and sends visibility data to the CPU to retrieve a pre-stored speed limit corresponding to the visibility level for comparison with the actual speed. 
   
   
       4 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 3 , wherein the CPU controls longitudinal and lateral snap-shooting through corresponding longitudinal and lateral cameras, wherein the CPU is provided with a master communication interface and connected with a red light detector which detects the red light condition in real-time and sends the condition data to the CPU, wherein the longitudinal and lateral cameras includes the master communication interface, a video controller and a camera communication interface, wherein the vehicle speed detection module calculates the speed data according to the output of the underground inductance coil, and wherein the CPU creates a speed limit corresponding to the visibility data sent by the visibility sensor module and stores the speed limit data in a speed limit storage for future decision of speeding. 
   
   
       5 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 4 , wherein the CPU has an embedded ARM4 processor with corresponding analysis and control programs of data gathering, error handling and logic calculating to the input information regarding red light condition, traffic condition and vehicle speed, wherein when a red light violation or speeding is confirmed, the CPU sends related information through the master communication interface to the longitudinal and lateral snapshot control modules and the longitudinal and lateral snapshot control modules calculate the best snapshot time and position of the corresponding cameras and send the results to the corresponding cameras through the camera communication interface, wherein the cameras take a snapshot or video of the scene correspondingly. 
   
   
       6 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 5 , wherein the visibility sensor comprises a laser transmitter and a laser receiver, wherein the visibility data is obtained by calculating the ratio of a transmitted light intensity to a received light intensity. 
   
   
       7 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 6 , wherein the laser receiver has a photosensitive element to receive laser which is sensitive only to laser of predetermined frequencies. 
   
   
       8 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 7 , wherein the laser receiver is equipped with a tubular shade for prevention of the background light. 
   
   
       9 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 8 , further comprising a real-time speed limit display in front of the speed detection module, wherein the said speed limit display is connected to the CPU and the CPU sends the speed limit data stored in the speed limit storage to the speed limit display for displaying in real time. 
   
   
       10 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 9 , wherein the lighting mode selector, the manual light switching device and the intelligent light control module control the traffic lights by sending information to the CPU, wherein the lighting mode selector sends light control parameters to the CPU, the manual light switching device assigns priority to a manual operation, and the intelligent light control module receives real-time videos of traffic condition on each direction from the panoramic cameras through the video capture card, analyzes the videos for queuing data of the vehicles, chooses an optimum lighting mode according to the queuing data, and sends commands to the light control module to change the light control parameters stored in the light control module. 
   
   
       11 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 2 , wherein the visibility sensor comprises a laser transmitter and a laser receiver, wherein the visibility data is obtained by calculating the ratio of a transmitted light intensity to a received light intensity. 
   
   
       12 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 11 , wherein the laser receiver has a photosensitive element to receive laser which is sensitive only to laser of predetermined frequencies. 
   
   
       13 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 12 , wherein the laser receiver is equipped with a tubular shade for prevention of the background light. 
   
   
       14 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 13 , further comprising a real-time speed limit display in front of the speed detection module, wherein the said speed limit display is connected to the CPU and the CPU sends the speed limit data stored in the speed limit storage to the speed limit display for displaying in real time. 
   
   
       15 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 14 , wherein the lighting mode selector, the manual light switching device and the intelligent light control module control the traffic lights by sending information to the CPU, where the lighting mode selector sends light control parameters to the CPU, the manual light switching device assigns priority to a manual operation, and the intelligent light control module receives real-time videos of traffic condition on each direction from the panoramic cameras through the video capture card, analyzes the videos for queuing data of the vehicles, chooses an optimum lighting mode according to the queuing data, and sends commands to the light control module to change the light control parameters stored in the light control module. 
   
   
       16 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 3 , wherein the visibility sensor comprises a laser transmitter and a laser receiver, wherein the visibility data is obtained by calculating the ratio of a transmitted light intensity to a received light intensity. 
   
   
       17 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 11 , wherein the laser receiver has a photosensitive element to receive laser which is sensitive only to laser of predetermined frequencies. 
   
   
       18 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 12 , wherein the laser receiver is equipped with a tubular shade for prevention of the background light. 
   
   
       19 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 13 , further comprising a real-time speed limit display in front of the speed detection module, wherein the said speed limit display is connected to the CPU and the CPU sends the speed limit data stored in the speed limit storage to the speed limit display for displaying in real time. 
   
   
       20 . The integrated intersection traffic control system according to  claim 14 , wherein the lighting mode selector, the manual light switching device and the intelligent light control module control the traffic lights by sending information to the CPU, where the lighting mode selector sends light control parameters to the CPU, the manual light switching device assigns priority to a manual operation, and the intelligent light control module receives real-time videos of traffic condition on each direction from the panoramic cameras through the video capture card, analyzes the videos for queuing data of the vehicles, chooses an optimum lighting mode according to the queuing data, and sends commands to the light control module to change the light control parameters stored in the light control module.